Chapter 4 — The Last Secret
Three months later...
The courtroom was overflowing.
Reporters lined every aisle.
Families of dozens of previous victims filled the gallery.
One by one, investigators reopened every suspicious funeral Father Benedict had ever conducted.
Several coffins were exhumed.
Evidence confirmed the nightmare.
Many victims had claw marks inside their coffins.
Some had broken fingernails.
Some had fractured fingers.
They had fought desperately for air...
While everyone above believed they were already dead.
The jury needed less than two hours.
Father Benedict and Dr. Malcolm Pierce were both sentenced to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
As the verdict was read, neither man looked at the judge.
They stared only at Rosa.
The maid who had destroyed everything.
Outside the courthouse, reporters surrounded her.
"How does it feel to be called a hero?"
Rosa smiled quietly.
"I'm not a hero."
"I was simply the only person who listened."
Nearby, Vivian stood beside Edgar, her hand tightly wrapped around his.
She was alive.
Scarred.
Still haunted by the darkness inside that coffin.
But alive.
Edgar looked toward Rosa with tears in his eyes.
"You gave me my wife back."
Rosa shook her head.
"No."
"She never stopped fighting."
"I just helped someone finish the fight."
As the courthouse doors closed behind the convicted men, sunlight finally broke through the clouds.
For the first time since her nightmare began...
Vivian lifted her face toward the warmth.
Filled her lungs with fresh air.
And silently promised herself that every remaining day of her life would be lived as the gift it truly was.
Because sometimes...
May you like
The difference between life and death...
Is one person willing to believe the impossible.
